Babcock & Wilcox Shares Plunge 66 Percent

Steam boiler and turbine manufacturer Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc. saw its stock price fall by more than 66 percent after it reported earnings and revenue for the second quarter that badly missed projections.

The Charlotte-based company reported a loss of $144.9 million, or $3.06 per share, compared to a loss of $72.6 million, or $1.25 per share, in the second quarter a year ago. The company was expected to earn 32 cents per share.

The company took a $115.2 million charge in its renewable business during the quarter due to increased estimated costs to complete six projects in backlog, the result of lower-than-forecasted productivity and schedule delays.

Revenue for the quarter was $349.8 million, down 8.7 percent from the $383.2 million in revenue for the second quarter a year ago and well below analyst estimates of $458.4 million.

“As we advanced engineering, and re-estimated overall productivity levels on six new-build projects in the renewable segment, late in the quarter we concluded we would not hit our cost and schedule targets,” said Chief Executive Officer E. James Ferland in a statement.